I'll take a little random with my random, please

If I don't start writing, I may just stop altogether. I've tried to come up with something to say for nearly a week now. I have nothing.

But this blog and I are good at this. The being inseparable when I have much to say, the separation and nothing-ness when I have nothing. It comes and goes.

I think the best I can do is try for a little bit of randomness. See where that goes.

-The sixth Harry Potter movie is coming out next weekend. In this house we are huge, no make that HUGE Harry Potter fans. We own all of the movies and are currently reading book three to the girls at night. We will be watching a movie a night this week and then I think we will see the new movie at some point on Sunday. We were going to go Friday night, but instead I think we are going to camp with family Friday night and go tubing on Saturday.

-Bailey is going to be five *sob* on Saturday and she really wants to do this tubing thing. She heard some cousins talking about it and she thinks it sounds like a blast. I am just happy I don't have to deal with Chuck E' Cheese (Parental Hell), which was her first idea. Tubing on Saturday, Harry Potter 6 and Cold Stone Ice Cream cake Sunday. Sounds like a good birthday to me.

-I managed to get all of the girls school supplies purchased yesterday. Seems awfully early to be doing it, but school starts the 14th of August (squeeeee) and Morgan is very particular about what she gets. Clothes will wait until the last week prior, because I am incapable of not letting them wear them. If I wait and buy them, the week before or a few days before, they won't ask everyday to wear them. I've learned.

-I am emotional, very emotional in fact about Bailey turning five this week. Five seems so old. Kindergarten in a month seems so insane. Where did my tiny baby bruiser go?

-I am sick to death of my husband working 14 hour days all of the time. I am sick of him reminding me that when the girls were little, I did the same thing, while he took care of them. I think it sucks being a single parent, when you are MARRIED.

-I am tired. Tired of arguing with my daughters about which toys can't be left on the floor. I am in a throw it away mood and I'm likely to start tossing anything the baby gets a hold of, if they keep it up. Tired of coming up with meal ideas. Tired of grocery shopping. Tired of laundry. But mostly, I am just tired.

And that's all she wrote.


Oh wait, one more thing. If you are going to BlogHer, will you let me know in the comments here. Just wave or something. I am trying to make a mental list of people I want to meet and anyone who visits here is on the top of that list.

Hi, I'm Issa. Wanna know how weird I am?

Undomestic Diva, Marinka and Anymommy have all posted in the last few weeks different versions of things we should know about them before BlogHer. Basically what I learned from their lists is, they are all way cooler than me. However, it has made me start to think about the things you should all possibly know about me.

Seeing as how I've already started having nightmares about BlogHer, I might as well get it all out in the open. Then at least you will all be pre-warned.

First of all, hi, I'm Issa. *waves* I know you all know that, but what people always ask is, how do I pronounce Issa. Well see my name is actually Melissa. Which I will totally answer too. So Issa is a nick name for Melissa, because my best friend James, couldn't say Melissa when we were toddlers. Issa is Melissa without the Mel. (Try and call me Mel and you die. Am not kidding. I don't find it funny and I DESPISE it. Try it more than once and I will most likely not speak to you any more.) There is no E sound in Issa. Basically think of it this way, it's Lissa without the L. Got it? Please, don't worry about screwing it up. Because honestly, I am probably going to look at you and go, and your Twitter/Blog Name is what again? Just ask, I promise I don't bite and I'll say Issa for you.

Now that we got that out of the way.....

1. I won't know any of you, unless you walk around with a picture of your Twitter avatar and your Twitter name attached to your head. Please help me out with your name, okay? I promise I want to meet everyone, so if you see me, hear my name, whatever, please come and say hi.

2. I am not a friendly person in the AM, until I've had coffee. I will make sure I find a Starbucks, this isn't a concern of mine. I can smell any Starbucks in a three mile radius. But you have been warned.

3. I do not drink much at all. I am a big talker when it comes to drinking. A glass of wine is more than enough for me. When I say I've had a lot to drink on twitter, it means I've had two glasses. However, once I've had a drink, I am much more calm in social situations. Like, hai, I can talk to you now. Cause I iz drunk.

4. My hair is not awesome, I may or may not re-color it before the conference, so you may see some grays. I don't have brand new clothes and my purse is four years old. But? I smell nice and my toes will be pretty. I'm just not that girly enough to worry about the rest of it. So rest assured, the rest of you who will be wearing tank tops and capri's, you will fit in with me.

5. I don't talk about politics or religion. It's not that I don't have opinions, because believe me I do. But I like to keep the peace, so I tend to steer very far away from these subjects.

6. I am not a huge talker until I feel comfortable around you and then I never shut up.

7. I truly am scared shit less about this Keynote thing. Even more so, since I realized they RECORD it. Like with a camera, so the whole world can see it later. I know some of you don't want to hear about it anymore. I got picked, you didn't. And for that, I'm sorry. But I is skerred. Unless Matthew really wears a G-String in the audience like he promised me on Saturday night, I may be nervous until the dam thing is over. Excited and honored, but nervous.

8. I don't like Peas. Or mushrooms. Or eggplant. Or curry.

9. I play confident on the Internet. I appear to be much more confident in real life than I really am. Much saner, much more easy going. This is a good thing in some ways and in other ways it is an albatross. Because when I come home and say, I was a complete spaz, I was scared of everything and I'm pretty sure I offended twelve people, you will all think I am insane. Issa appears saner in person than she really is. Maybe that should be my new tagline. If you don't believe me, ask Maura and Insta-mom. They've met me.

10. I say dude as often in real life as I type it. I say seriously more often than I type it. I possibly need to learn some new words.

11. I will yawn the whole time I am there. It's not you and let me apologize in advance for yawning mid-sentence. I don't sleep well in general and I won't sleep well there, because I won't be at home. It's just how it is.

12. I have a ton of people I want to meet. Some who I've "known" for years. I have no pre-conceived notions that I will get to do more than say hi to most of them. But I really hope I can say hi. I have tons of you who I want to hang out with. I hope to god I can remember who all of you are and that I don't hide in a closet for too long and we get to hang out. One thing I've seen from previous years is, BlogHer is what you make of it. I? Plan to have a blast.


To those of you not going, I know this gets tiring, hearing about BlogHer all the time. Trust me, I've been you. For years in fact, since the 2006 conference where everyone I knew went. Just remember in a few weeks it will all be over. Also, I will still adore you all after the conference. I promise. Also, I'll miss you all. Swearz.

Oh hi! I think I remember how to use this thing.

It's still on right? Oh sheesh, I'm tired. Nothing like squishing what should have been a weeks worth of stuff into four days. I'm going to try and give you the condensed version of my trip, because well, I'm tired.

Our plane was delayed on the way out there, which I guess is par for the course. Our first plane had some sort of a brake malfunction, which sounds bad. I mean you need brakes, correct? They finally gave us a new plane, after and hour and a half and three gate changes. Funny, but the later flight to LA, the time I thought was too late? That plane left (and I'm sure landed) before us. When we finally got in (at midnight LA time, which is 1am for us) I drug my half asleep children to the rental car place to pick up a car. Ever tried to drag two bags, three backpacks and two half asleep children through an airport? I don't recommend it.

We get out car and they go, do you want directions to Disneyland? Me being the smart ass, said no, I'm from here, I know exactly where Disney is. I get on the 405 and head towards Disney and completely miss my connecting freeway. Yeah, I may be from LA, but at 1:30am, I could have used directions. Plus, it's not like Disney was someplace I went to often.

Thursday I get woken up at 7am (not sure if it was my time or not, never bothered to change my clock) by my lovely child asking if we can go to Disney right that second. She has her bikini top, jeans and her sisters flip-flops on and has a backpack strapped to her back. She is ready for Disney. Needless to say, it was another couple of hours before we all made it there.

We were there with a group of family. Logan's auntie, cousins and their kids; most of whom are teenagers. Everything we did took time. Six teenage girls take a zillion years to get ready. Also, I am not ready for the drama that is teenage girls. Nor the attitude. I adore these girls, don't get me wrong, they are awesome chicks. I am just not ready to have my own be that age.

Disney rocks. That's all that needs to be said about that. We came, we rode, we ate. Then we ate some more. The end.

There was some drama at one point. Thursday night I think. The screaming, people (not me) running off in different directions crying, type of drama. Not unusual when you get 11 chicks together for five days. But by the next morning it had all been worked out.

We went to Huntington Beach, where I taught my girls and all the rest of those crazies how not to drown in the ocean. Oh and the fine art of body surfing. And Issa got fried. Serious. Like my forehead had blisters, burned. I am not the only one, but I'm thrilled that my kids didn't get burned. Am thinking I possibly need to start wearing my kids sunblock. Peeling from your forehead and crying every time someone runs into the back of your legs is not fun.

On Friday, we went to Sea World, which I haven't done since I was a kid. I'd never taken the girls. I think they have gone with my mother before a couple of times, but I'd never taken them myself. The shows were awesome. A bit cheesy maybe, but the animals were great. I'd put some pictures up, of Shamu and the dolphins, but my camera and my computer are in a lovers quarrel right now, so maybe tomorrow. I got some great ones, so I promise to share soon.

The worst part of that day was the bus ride up there. We had the talkative bus driver. The guy had a microphone and used it the entire hour and a half ride up there. He kept saying, I'm not going to talk the entire time, but he did. Incessantly. At 8:30am, on little sleep and having had no coffee, all of us wanted to duct tape his mouth shut. We were texting back and forth, the best ways to take over the bus and kick him off. Luckily on the way back, he was really freaking quiet.

Saturday, I left the girls with everyone else (their choice, because they wanted to go to Disneyland one more day) and went to visit a cousin of mine and her kids. I got to cuddle a scrumptious newborn all day and had a pretty good time with everyone else there.

Sunday I got up way to early, because another cousins boys are freaking out of control. (But that is a whole other subject.) Then I waited impatiently until it was around noon, so I could go and have lunch with the lovely Instamom. She is as sweet and awesome as she seems.

That's pretty much it. Drove to the airport and got carsick on the 405. It's dam bumpy. But really, I think Denver has ruined me. I've gone soft. Kinda funny to get carsick when you are the one driving. Waited around the airport and then came home, where I yet again, got to drag half asleep children to the car.

Only other news I have, is that Harrison learned how to pull himself up with the couch. My husband was kind enough to call and tell me that on Friday evening. Dude doesn't seem to remember the, it's only the first time when mama sees it rule. Am betting the boy walks at 10 months.

I hope you all had a lovely weekend. At some point I will manage to come and visit everyone.

Just to get that post down a bit

I am not going to apologize for my post yesterday. I don't regret it. While a tad of the over-dramatic side, I meant every bit of it. Yesterday. It's been called naked blogging, not because I was nekkid, but because it was real, raw, emotional and a bit embarrassing. I've gone back and forth on just taking it down and decided against it. You guys get the real me here. May not be pretty, may not be entertaining, but it's me. Thank you to all of you for your sweet comments, it meant the world to me.

Today is a different day. A better day. Filled with sunshine and unicorns. Ok, maybe not, but it's a heck of a lot better than yesterday. I knew I needed to post something today, just so you all know that I'm not taking down this site. So, I looked around and found a meme that I decided to do. The couples meme, is I think what it's called. I stole it from Mothergoosemoouse who I believe stole it from Dooce.

THE COUPLES MEME:

What are your middle names?

Mine is Ann, or Anne, depending which of my parents you ask. Never let your husband fill out a birth certificate, when he can't spell a simple name. Was supposed to be Anne, after my great-grandma. Is Ann, because my dad can't spell. Funnily, he has since that day, spelled it Anne. Logan's (who remember isn't Logan really) is Owen.

How long have you been together?

We met in September 1994. Married, March 1999.

How long did you know each other before you started dating?

Like three hours. Seriously.

Who asked whom out?

I asked him out. In fact, I asked him if he'd like to ditch the last half of our first day of Freshman year and go surfing.

How old are each of you?

We are both 29. I turned 29 on Monday and he'll be 30 in September. I tease him all the time for being so much older than me.

Whose siblings do you see the most?

His brother I guess, but only because he has a love of skiing. My brothers live in San Francisco. His brother and sister both live in Los Angeles.

Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?

Remembering to make time for us. Remembering that everything is temporary, that he won't be working long hours forever, that I won't always be sitting around just waiting for someone to talk too.

Did you go to the same school?

Yes. We are big ole nerds like that.

Are you from the same home town?

No. I was born in Los Angeles, him Denver.

Who is smarter?

We are smart in different ways, if that makes sense.

Who is the most sensitive?

Depends on the day. We are both capable of hurting each others feelings without meaning too. On the cry at movies type of sensitive, um me.

Where do you eat out most as a couple?

Go out to eat as a couple? Are you freaking kidding me? I have no clue, because we love to try new restaurants. Plus, hai, we are never alone. Three kids, remember? Our stand-by when we can't decide, or agree, is California Pizza Kitchen.

Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?

Italy. We went for a week after we got married.

Who has the craziest exes?

Neither. We were High School sweethearts. Although if you ask him about me and Nathan and a game of truth or dare under a trampoline, he wants to do bodily harm.

Who has the worst temper?

Me, hands down. I am the screamer, the arguer, the coffee mug thrower. But he has his moments.

Who does the cooking?

Me mostly, although we eat out a lot. He's a better cook than I am. But his mom is a chef, so he learned how to cook at a very young age.

Who is the neat-freak?

Morgan? Neither one of us are neat freaks. The only neat freak in this house is seven years old. I hope it lasts, when she is a teen. She loves to clean and do dishes. However, she hates doing laundry, folding laundy, putting laundry away...

Who is more stubborn?

I'm a Taurus. Enough said.

Who hogs the bed?

Logan does, completely. But he's freaking 6'4. I constantly wake up and move his limbs off of me at night.

Who wakes up earlier?

He does, at five am. Have I mentioned the insane amount of hours he has been working lately?

Where was your first date?

I have no freaking idea. Venice Beach Boardwalk probably. Dude we were 14, we considered it all one big date.

Who is more jealous?

Neither one of us has ever been a jealous person.

How long did it take to get serious?

Oh hai, um a day? Ok, not like that. Dirty minded people. But the, he told me after a day, that he knew we'd get married one day.

Who eats more?

He does. Needs a third leg probably. Or has one hidden that I am not seeing.

Who does the laundry?

Me. If I waited for him to do it, I'd walk around nekkid.

Who’s better with the computer?

Me. He's kind of computer illiterate.

Who drives when you are together?

He does. And I gripe at him the whole way.

Ok, so it might have snowed a bit

You may have heard that Denver is having a bit of a snow storm right now. I mean, it may have been on the news. Since you know, the airport, the highway and all of the schools are closed. Basically today everything was closed. Everything, like the schools. Can I say that again, they closed school. You know what that means right? That the kids were home all day long.

I was laughing when hey closed school, because we haven't had much snow in months and it was barely snowing this morning. The snow wasn't even sticking when they announced the closures. I thought it was the dumbest thing I'd heard. Canceling school in case something happens? WHo does that? What kind of place did I move too?

Yeah, I was wrong. By 1pm we had a foot of snow. We are expected to have two by morning. Lovely weather people, I apologize for laughing at you. I have learned my lesson. Next time you say feet and snow in the same sentence, I will makes sure to buy wine right away.

I thought I'd show you the difference between Sunday and today. So you can have a nice visual.

SUNDAY:




TODAY:


Mind you, these pictures were taken at 2pm. We have a ton more snow now. Send help if you don't hear from me by Monday, okay?

100 things

I have about five posts swimming around in my head right now: a post about being thankful; a post about my tiny boy being two months old; a post about my love of pie and a post about how I nearly killed a Best Buy employee today. None of which will probably get written. The problem is time. This is Thanksgiving weekend people. I have a houseful of people. My house is full of laughter, games, Wii competitiveness, shrieking little girls and food. Loads of food. We are a bit overstocked on food. We made an extra turkey, because my husband won one. It's Friday though and I'm already tired of turkey. Next weekend my baby girl is going to be seven years old and I've only half planned her party. We won't even discuss Christmas, because I'm likely to cry if I think of how much I have to do.

Moving on...

I used to have a blog before this blog. A lot of you knew me then, some of you didn't. Maybe you know that I used to blog and maybe you don't. For those who had no idea, I blogged for about a year and a half. Then I disappeared for about eighteen months and now I'm at my 100th post. Again. I sort of wish I'd saved that post, but I didn't keep much. Mostly the things I kept were letters written to my girls.

I know it's tradition to write 100 things about yourself for your 100th post. Everyone does it, it's the new black or whatever. But I'm not sure I can come up with 100 choice items about myself. Unless I start talking about my love of sour jelly beans, which I doubt you want to hear about.

Basically I'm going to be a thief. Insta-Mom stole an idea from AnyMommy. The 10 x 10 post; 10 lists of 10 things. Really it's a great idea. I'm glad I read these lovely women, so I can steal all of their great ideas. So, here I go....10x10, 100 things about me.

10 things I am grateful for this Thanksgiving:
1. My son. I knew I'd love him as much as his sisters, I learned this the second time around. I knew he'd change our family forever in amazing ways. But I didn't know that I'd adore him as much as I do. That I'd want to stay home with him. For him.
2. My girls. They are amazing and creative and the sweetest little people.
3. My husband.
4. My family being able to come together and have a great time.
5. A drama free Thanksgiving.
6. That we had a table full of tasty ass food.
7. Our new president.
8. That we didn't have a blizzard this weekend, which would have made it hard for people to get here. (Of course I started writing this about four hours ago. We now have at least 6 inches already.)
9. My warm toasty house and my warm toasty sheets on my bed. (did I mention the snow?)
10. For all of you. For those of you who comment, those of you who don't and those of you who I consider true friends.

10 things about my children:
1. Harrison is a talker. He talks to us all day long. He also smiles and giggles. I've enclosed proof at the bottom of this post.
2. Harrison is in 3-6 month clothes already. There is a poll on how much he weighs. My guess is 14 pounds, 2 ounces. He is only two months and is heavier than either of the girls were at six months. He's a chunky Buddha baby.
3. Morgan steals my cell phone, goes in the closet and calls family. Just to talk.
4. She too is a talker. If she'd ask, I'd gladly give it to her to do this. But I find it funny that she steals it, calls and then returns it. I hear about it later.
5. Morgan loves complete darkness when she sleeps. Bailey loves three night lights when she sleeps.
6. They share a room.
7. Morgan's bed has sheets around it, like a tent in the jungle.
8. Bailey is the best Wii bowler in this house. That is sad, considering she is only four.
9. All three of my kids are the loves of my life.
10. Although all three of them seriously could be replaced with those sleeping in kids that you hear about and I'd be thrilled.

10 things you might not have known about me:
1. I have Strabismis, which is lazy eye, in both eyes. The docs are not sure why my eyes focus together at all. Right now, because I am so tired, I am only using the left one. I cannot wear contacts, they make me want to gouge my eyes out with chopsticks or sporks.
2. I hate shoes and socks, but I love to buy both shoes and socks.
3. I am a speed reader. Which is good, considering my attention span these days, is 2.5 posts.
4. I say I am a horrible cook, but I'm really not. I can follow any direction. My thing though, is I want to be able to cook by memory and just throw ingredients in. That too me is a true cook.
5. I am named after two great-grandmas.
6. I have a love of names. I would love to write a book about names. If I cold figure out how to do it, I'd come up with a way to name babies for people. Some people seriously could use help with this.
7. I love to people watch and make up stories about the people I see.
8. I spend hours of my day trying to eat the cheeks of my babies.
9. I am scared to fly, although I will do it. But I'd rather drive two days, with my children, than get on a plane.
10. I cheat at Monopoly, but I've never cheated on anything else in my life.

My 10, all time favorite movies: (These are not in order. I'd be hard pressed to do that.)
1. Mary Poppins
2. While You Were Sleeping
3. The Grinch (Not the Jim Carey one.)
4. Willy Wonka
5. Beetle Juice
6. Michael
7. Indian Summer
8. Ocean's Eleven
9. 13 Going on 30
10. Empire Records

10 things that occupy my time, besides my chillins and my man:
1. Um hai, blogging
2. Twitter
3. Checking my email
4. Chatting with Kim
5. Reading
6. Photographing my children
7. Sudoku
8. Watching NCIS
9. Going through, sorting, scanning old photos
10. Trying to figure out what the hell I'm doing with my life

10 things that made me fall for said man:
1. His smile
2. His ass (he made me say that)
3. His love and sweetness with his baby sister
4. The way he could crack the whole room up with a well timed joke
5. The fact that he thought before he spoke, so he was generally very thoughtful
6. His kindness and giving nature
7. The care and time he spent on his mother, grandmother and family
8. The fact that I could beat him at air hockey
9. That he was better than me at everything except air hockey and surfing
10. That he never cared that I was better than him at air hockey and surfing

10 places I want to see/do before I die:
1. Sydney, Australia
2. Walk the Golden Gate Bridge
3. Spend two weeks on a house boat in Lake Mead
4. Spend a month in a Tuscan Villa
5. Go to Greece with my mom
6. Spend a month on an island with just my husband
7. Go to the Summer Olympics
8. China
9. Ski in Switzerland
10. Find out where my dad's family was from in Poland and travel there.

The 10 songs that I am currently playing over and over again:
1. Days Like This by Van Morrison
2. Have a Little Faith in Me by John Hiatt
3. Where I'm From by John Michael Carroll
4. Lost by Michael Buble
5. Already Gone by Sugarland
6. It Won't be Like This For Long by Darius Rucker
7. Roll With Me by Montgomery Gentry
8. Piano Man by Billy Joel
9. Stay Down by Mary J. Blige
10. Here by Derek Sholl

My 10 favorite books off all time:
1. A Wrinkle in Time
2. All Harry Potter books
3. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
4. Fried Green Tomatoes
5. In the Time of the Butterflies
6. Their Eyes Were Watching God
7. Twelfth Night
8. To Kill a Mockingbird
9. The Lorax
10. The Giver

10 ways that I am probably a parenting oxymoron:
1. All three of my children were (are) only bottle fed. But I find breastfeeding to be a beautiful thing.
2. I swore no child of mine would ever sleep in my bed. Neither of the girls ever did. Harrison has since day one.
3. In LA I was prepared (and was) to spend a butt load of money on a fabulous private school. I thought it was so important. Here, my girls go to the "Hippie" public choice school. The programs? Not so different really.
4. I buy organic meat, dairy and veggies. But we have Oreo's, Cheetos and Fruit Roll-Ups in the panrty and my kids know the menu at way too many restaurants.
5. I want the kids to understand the meaning behind Christmas. We donate time, money and food. We pick kids off the Target tree and shop for them; we give to homeless people and we give our old clothes. However, there will be a ton of gifts for the kids.
6. I encourage them believing in the tooth fairy, magic and Santa Clause; but Santa only brings one or two small gifts. Mostly because I don't want that fat man too take away my glory.
7. I think education is a key. I am saving for college for each of my kids. But I went to college and I know the skills I've used in my career did not come from my education. They came from the college of life. If my kids choose not to go to college, I will support them in this choice. They will have to support themselves...but I'll be okay with their choice.
8. We use homeopathy, relaxation techniques and therapy with Morgan for her ADHD. I will medicate her, when and if it seems like the right thing too do, without a second thought.
9. I won't buy toys very often. In a bookstore, all bets are off. We have bookshelves throughout this house. They know I'm a sucker when it comes to books.
10. We limit sugar, TV, Wii time and encourage playing outside and sports. When they are being pains though, I hand them some candy and send them to watch some TV.

But hey, I think they'll be okay anyway.

See, my baby smiles: Harrison Thomas, two months and a couple of days old.


I hope you guys had a great Thanksgiving.

Friday Facts, take two

1. I have been working on a photo video thing for Morgan's birthday. She saw it last night and sat in awe of her own freaking pictures. When it was over, she said, Mommy, I really am cute. I have no words. Self-esteem, my kid has it.

2. This morning the kids were arguing about what frozen grass is called. This winning answer is grassicles, in case you ever wondered. Patten and trademark are pending.

3. I received an email from Hallmark, stating that they can send out my Christmas cards. I'm so tempted to take them up on it, seeing how I have yet to even send out birth announcements of my son, who is almost two month old now. But then I saw that I'd have to type my addresses into it and that seems like as much work as writing out the cards myself. Which means, I now feel like I need to go out and buy Christmas cards, order birth announcements and mail them out. I have what? 6 weeks until Christmas, right? I've got loads of time.

4. I have purchased exactly one Christmas gift. One. Just one. It's for the baby; a wooden rocking horse. You know, one he can ride? Which is very helpful considering he won't be old enough to ride it for at least a year and a half. But hey, one gift is one gift. Looks like black Friday shopping is calling my name.

5. Harrison is nine weeks old. I am working on a two month post for him. I have never been that into the week thing. Saying he's nine weeks old, just seems weird to me. I just tell people, he'll be two months old next week. When he turns a year *sob* he will be one years old, I'll stop saying months. Am I the only person who does this? Do any of you find it weird when someone is like, oh he's 22 weeks old, or 37 months? Who can keep track of that kind of shit? I feel lucky if I get my kids names right half the time.

Friday Facts, take one

1. My lovely son is trying to mess with my mind. He has woken up between 6:15 and 6:25 every single morning since he was two days old. This is the one time that has remained consistent. As strange as it sounds, I cherish this time with him. Logan is in the shower, the girls are sleeping. It's the one time, the one feeding that is never interrupted by anyone. So we sit and rock and he munches and we just look at each other. After this, he goes back to sleep for another hour or two and then the day has really started. This morning I woke up at 6:20. I waited, I listened; nothing. Logan took his shower and got dressed and went to make coffee. Still nothing. He came back and said, what happened, why didn't he wake up? Well, I just have no clue.

But see, the boy has me trained and now he's changed his mind. Meaning, I couldn't go back to sleep at all. He woke up at 7:45. He ate, amidst his sisters craziness. He still hasn't gone back to sleep. This is okay, it really is. I am sure I will enjoy that extra hour or so of sleep. But it makes me wonder what our day will be like now. What else he thinks he's going to change. Not even a month old (until tomorrow, post coming) and he's messing with me. I'm in trouble.

2. My mom and step-dad are coming today. They'll be here for a week or so. I'm so thrilled. But it means I have to pick up my house today. Maybe get some laundry done. Or I can sit and veg out and maybe my mom will help me. I know it's bad, but that will probably win out.

3. Failblog.org is cracking me up this week. Not as funny as, I can has cheeseburgers or I can has hotdogs, but still extremely funny. This one, had me rolling on the floor last night.


see more pwn and owned pictures

4. Last night, Logan and I went on our first date night, since Harrison was born. Leaving the girls, not a problem. Leaving the baby, ouch. Our sitter is amazing and when we got back, she said, he was awake for a while and he was fine, but he kept wrinkling his eyebrows while looking at her, like who are you lady? We just went out to eat and walked around the mall, but it was still fun. Adult time, adult conversations and no chocolate milk had to be ordered at dinner. Success.

5. For some reason, I always feel like I should have a t least five things when I do this. But today, I really don't. That's all she wrote folks.

Have a great weekend. I am working on a post for my month old tomorrow newborny. Sob. But with my parents coming into town, it probably won't go up until Monday.

Think Pink

October is breast cancer awareness. I don't know many people who this disease has not touched in some way; a relative, friend or a friends relative. My aunt is kicking it's ass right now. She had found a lump at some point last spring. They removed it and two she never even felt. She did radiation and now she's doing chemo as a preventative measure. She is winning. But the key is catching it as early as possible. We need to check ourselves weekly. Anything looking or feeling weird needs to be checked immediately. There is no time to wait. Cancer doesn't wait.

We need to fight this disease. We need to cure this disease. Until that happens, we can try and prevent it taking lives by catching it early enough to do something. Early enough to fight. Prevention is the key.

So ladies, what I'm saying is this: get all nice and cozy with the girls. Play with them. Come on now, you know your husbands would love to see this. (Sorry couldn't help it.)

Think pink!

All those boy hormones

Hi! I'm a hormonal mess. Just thought I'd share. Everyone is my house is sick to death of me right now. All I've done is cry off and on all day. It started last night, when I decided to watch Grey's Anatomy (Season premiere, cause you know I was birthing a child at that exact time last week. Holy crap that was a sad episode, with all the dying and impaling and yelling.) and I've not really stopped. I cried at commercials this morning, some of your blog posts and the fact that I've managed to misplace one teeny tiny sock. I wish I was kidding. I just can't stop. I've fought with my husband, yelled at the dog and ignored my daughters. I didn't sleep last night, which effing sucks, because the baby did.

Mr. Perfect Baby (did I mention he slept five hours in a row, then ate, then slept more, the last two nights?) gets the award for keeping me from just totally losing it. I'm not depressed, at least I don't think so. Unlike with the girls, I do know what to look for. Hi, been there, done that, still...well never mind. My doctor (and husband and MIL) is paying close attention. It's just these dam hormones. They are kicking my ass. It's like major PMS without the bleeding.

My MIL (bless her) said something today that made the most sense to me. She said, "you had boy parts and hormones in you for over nine months and now you don't. Both ways are a shock to your system. Made complete sense, didn't help much, but it made sense. She will not be getting random items thrown at her head.

I came here thinking, if I just start writing, something better will come to me. You know, the "if you build it HE will come" thing? But it's just not working for me.

Baby birthing story to come, when I can manage to sit down and finish it.

Announcements for the day

I am tired, grouchy and in desperate need of a Venti coffee.

In other news: I am three centimeters dilated.

I was asking the doc if she thought I'd make it to my due date and she said honestly I have no idea. While truthful, it wasn't what I wanted to hear. I wanted to hear that I'd have this baby by Friday. Because I am so ready to be done with this. I hurt everywhere, I'm short of breath all the time, I can't get comfortable and I'm just so dang tired. Also, I need some brain cells back, he's sucking them all up right now.

The doc goes, well I guess you try the old stand-bys. Walking and spicy food I asked? She looked at Logan, looked at me and says, well that and sex. Logank was like, all right, yea me....but I just laughed and said, isn't that how we got here in the first place? This my friends will be the last resort, because the thought of it, makes me kinda want to cry. (As an aside, do you think that jumping on the trampoline would work or that I'd just injure myself more than I already am?) I do get my splint-cast deal off next Wednesday, but I can use my fingers again to type and I can feel that it's getting better.

Soooo...yep, that's all I've got for now. Send good thoughts for labor okay?

Broken thumb meme

So I broke my thumb. Or they're pretty sure, since I wouldn't let them x-ray me. Sorry I'd like my son to only have two ears if that's all right. The doc was irritated, but the PA who did the half cast thingy was sweet. If when I go back in a week, it's not better at all, I'll have to let them x-ray it. I did it by moving the dam crib, not wanting to wait the five minutes for Logan to get home. I am pitiful and broken.

I'd been saving this meme for after the baby, but I thought I'd put it up today....since using my one hand to type (which I will continue to do just not as much) and do everything else is making it sore.

ABC MEME:

I realized the other day that I write posts like you all know everything about me. Some of you do, since I blogged for over a year before. But some of you are new here and I don't want to leave you out of knowing how lame and boring I truly am. So I did a meme, the ABC meme. I'm actually shocked that I've been back for a month and this is the first meme I've done. I stole it from Mindy at Good Mom, Bad Mom.

Attached or single? Single...know any hottt mens? Ok, kidding, Logan and I have been married nine and half years. I got married at age ten. :)

Best friend? Oy I have a bunch. My husband of course, who payed me to say this. We've known each other since the first day of high school. James, who I've known since our moms used to bathe us together as infants. Kate & Chris, who James and I met and accepted into our cult in Preschool. Emily, who we tricked into joining us in kindergarten. And Steph, who was dumb enough to marry Chris, who we met in college. We are like some lame ass after school special.

There was one other, Andrew, who we lost in college. 10 years have past, but he's still one of us and always will be; we'd known him forever.

Cake or Pie? Cake all the way, I'm not that into pie.

Day of Choice? Saturday when there is no soccer.

Essential Item? Coffee.

Favorite color? Green I guess.

Gummy bears or worms? Sour watermelon gummies.

Hometown? Los Angeles.

Indulgence? Starbucks; Twitter. :)

January or July? September or April. I am not a fan of extreme cold or heat.

Kids? Nope, sold them on eBay last night. Got ten dollars each. Ok...yes. Morgan Aubrey, age 6.7, Bailey Regan age 4; boy age negative 3ish weeks.

Life isn't complete.... Um, good to know.

Marriage Date? March 3rd, 1999

Number of Brothers and Sisters?Two brothers, Adam and Justin, identical twins, 26 years old. Have two step-sibs but I don't count them.

Oranges or Apples? Raspberries

Phobias? Oh shit did the voices ask you to ask me this?

Quote? I'm sure I have some, but I'm too tired to come up with them.

Reasons to Smile?My kids, my husband, baby clothes, fresh coffee.

Season of Choice? Fall, I love jeans and sweaters; leaves falling; cuddling up with blankies. I love that I live in a place where we get a fall. LA has two seasons, rain and not rain.

Tag Seven People? I don't feel like I can do this, but if you want to, let me know and I'll add your name and site link here.

Unknown Fact? I sometimes take pictures of my kids, not because they are being overly cute, but because the outfit they are wearing is so cute that I must have photographic evidence.

Vegetable? Is there a question in there somewhere?

Worst habits? Checking my phone all day. Texting and blogging at work. Besides that, I have none. Hahahaha.

XRay or Ultrasound? Um ultrasounds I guess. I don't really like either, except getting to check up on the fetus known as boy who has taken over my ribcage.

Your favorite food? Spicy tuna roll, which I dream about every night.

Zodiac sign? Taurus

T-4 weeks and some random other announcements

4 Weeks to the day

I am a little bit in shock how quickly this time has crept up on me. I mean, this baby can officially be born any day now. Like tomorrow, if he so chose. Morgan was a month early. Not that I want baby boy no-name to be born yet, but technically he'd be fine if he was. I am getting to the point where I am uncomfortable most of the time. I'm not sleeping worth a dam, random body parts hurt, I don't remember the last time I saw my feet, I have constant heartburn, all I want to do is eat and frankly I'm just a big ole grouch. So really I'm ready to be done.

At the same time, feeling him move and kick (although I'd love for him to leave my poor bladder alone) makes me giddy. I've waited years for this and I'm wanting to cherish it for a few more weeks. That feeling that I can protect him, that he's protected inside of me, that all I need to do for him is make sure he's fed and he's okay, is a great feeling. I'm not insane, I promise, it's just a fine line between wanting him out, so I can hold him and munch on his cheeks and wanting to just let him stay all cozy and comfy forever. I guess I'm not ready for another part of my heart to be outside of my body yet.

I know how fast it goes by, the newborn parts. Even as exhausting as it is, it goes by in the blink of an eye. I look at my girls and marvel at how big they are, how quickly they became the little independent people that they are today.

I wonder how he'll change our family, how the girls will react, if I really have the patience to start this all over again. These are my unanswered questions, as there's no way to figure it out. All I know for certain is that he already has my whole heart, just like Morgan and Bailey do.

Baby Shower

Ok, so one of Logan's cousins want to throw me a baby shower. For my third baby. Is this weird or is it just me? Also she isn't available to do it until the 14th of September, which is kinda the day before dude is due. So um....if I tell her not to, I'll hurt her feelings, but if I let her do it on that day, chances are he'll already be born. If he's not born by then, I know I won't be in a, let me open pretty shiny things, kind of a mood. So what should I do? Because honestly, my decision making skills are lacking right now. Help a girl out.

Morgan

We've decided for the moment, not to decide on medicating Morgan. It's just to hard to make the decision right now, especially since we'd be basically trying her on something that could make her worse at first and school just started. Plus, I just can't see doing it for one stupid teacher. We'll wait and see how she does this school year and if we feel that it is necessary, we'll try it out next summer. We are still taking her to have her evaluated anyway. We need to see about the anxieties and we need to see what exactly her doctor recommends.

She started with a new teacher this morning. She's all excited because her boyfriend from last year and her best friend are now in her class.

The Asshat

I've taken all of the advice you all gave and deleted the comment. All I've got to say to any haters is this: You are not welcome here. This is my site, not your dumping ground. Find somewhere else to spew, as it will from this day forward, be deleted here. Move along now.

The Olympics

I'm so over the Olympics. I think I over did it or something, but I'm done. It can go now. Bu bye.

I won, I won, I won..... What did I win, you ask? Well I won a Kick Ass Blogger award. See, ain't it purty?



Debra gave it to me. I paid her mind you, but....ok kidding, I didn't, she just gave it to me cause she thinks I kick ass. Which I do, normally at least. Ass kicking is a bit hard right now, seeing how high normal asses are (kid asses, now I can kick those), but I'll get back there. Ok, lets see here, there are rules.....blah, blah, blah. Go here and read them (here at Mama Dawg) if you want to, because I'm not all that into rules. But I will pass it on, because I think there are some other kick ass people out there, who deserve to know how kick ass they really are.

In no particular order:

Jennster, because she takes names and kicks some ass. She never backs down from a fight and she sticks up for the little people and I love her for her honesty.

MotherhoodUncensored, for always being willing to talk about what other people avoid. Whether it be sex, lame peoples, crazy in-laws or depression.

HerBadMother, for talking about her lady bits on the Internets and scaring the crap out of me. Well that and she's never afraid to say it like it is, even if her eloquent way with words can make me cry, no matter what she's talking about.

Black Hockey Jesus, for taking over the blogging world. Seriously I think he's looking at world domination. That and he's f'ing hilarious to boot.

Alissa at Life's Little Adventures, for being her. It's funny but when I think of Alissa, kick ass might not be the first thing that comes to mind. At least not in her posts, cause I have no doubt that she kicks some ass in real life. But she's a strong, independent woman and she's my friend. She has welcomed me back, no questions asked and been just as wonderful as the day I left. She takes care of her family, with minimal help from her overworked cop husband and she's raising amazing little boys; she also never fails to make me smile with her comments and encouragements. So for that, in my mind, she's a kick ass blogging chick.

Random facts: Wedding week edition

Bullet points from the past week. I know it's lame, I truly do, but I'm too tired to worry about it. I have posts to read, emails to answer and a post that is permeating my brain and needs to be written. Oh and work, whatever that is. I've missed you guys this week.

• Weddings and wedding last minute details are no place for a pregnant chick. This is just not a good combo. In fact, pregnant women should never be forced to be in a wedding. Attend and eat cake, sure. But anything more than that is just dumb.
  

• Weddings are filled with family drama. The only way they aren't, is to invite absolutely NO family. Eloping sure looks good in my mind. Think I can encourage my kids to do that one day?
  

• I spent the last ten days off of work and only managed to go swimming once. I am a little sad about this.

• Dark Night was way to scary and loud for me. I am officially old.

• The girls went back to school yesterday! Yay school. Bailey had a blast, Morgan not so much. She doesn't really like her teacher and I completely don't like her teacher. Not quite sure what to do about this one yet.

• My cousins kid called my dog, the cawy gog all week. It just might become her new official name.

• Logan can not manage to watch anything else if the Olympics are on at all. Doesn't matter if it's a sport he cares nothing about, it's a disease and he can't help but watch it.

• Ice cream eaten out of the carton tastes better than out of a bowl.

Okay, carry on. Nothing more to see here.

**update...boy is five pounds, three ounces already. Is this good, bad? Am I looking at giving birth to a 12 pound baby? Anybody, anybody...McFly?